Free Enduring Love by Bonnie Leon

each hand. “The gate was closed, but part of the fence had been knocked down. I blocked it off, though, good enough to hold em ’til Dad can fix it.”
    “Good.” Hannah studied the animals. They stood in a close bunch. “I’m afraid we’ll have to whack them solidly to make them move. You stand in the back, and I’ll take care of the sow. If I can get her moving, her piglets will follow.”
    Thomas immediately moved toward the swine. “Get out of ’ere. Now, I say.” His voice was as big as he could make it. He struck one piglet soundly on the hindquarters. With a squeal, it trotted away.
    Hannah moved up behind the sow and tapped her, but the animal barely looked up. “All right, then.” She hauled back on the broom and swung it down hard across the animal’s rump. With a squall, the sow lumbered off. Now all the pigs were agitated and moving.
    “Get around on the other side of them. Don’t let them get by you.”
    Thomas quickly moved to the outer edge of the mob, holding both branches out away from his body to steer them. The young boar charged toward him.
    “Thomas, watch out for him.”
    He smacked the small pig across its side. Instead of producing obedience from the animal, it turned on Thomas. With a fierce grunt, he rushed him and bit into his calf.
    Thomas didn’t call out or even act as if he’d been hurt. Instead, he yelled, “Get on with ye! Go on!” He hit the animal across the back and then the side of its face, forcing him to turn away. The boar trotted toward its siblings.
    “Are you all right?”
    “I’m fine. It was just a nip.” He smiled as he followed the sow and her litter away from the garden.
    Once they were clear of the potato patch, the pigs seemed more than happy to trot back to their pen. Hannah and Thomas herded them through the opening and pushed the gate closed. Leaning on it, Hannah glared at the animals. “We should butcher the lot of you.” As if understanding her intent, the young boar looked at her and squealed his displeasure. Hannah moved to the broken section of fencing and checked Thomas’s temporary repair, adding one extra board for bracing. “I suppose that will do for now.”
    With a shake of her head, she started back toward the house, Thomas beside her. Stopping at the garden plot, they studied the carnage. A good deal of the crop had been lost.
    “They did a job on it, eh,” Thomas said.
    “That they did. But we’ll manage.” Hannah rested a hand on his shoulder. “You did fine.”
    He swiped blond hair off his forehead and grinned. “It was a bit of excitement, wasn’t it?”
    “It was, indeed.” She moved toward the house. “We’d best have a look at your leg.”
    When they reached the porch, Hannah dipped a cup of water from a barrel and sat beside Thomas on the top step. They both drank from the cup, and then she went back and refilled it, handing it to Thomas before going inside for soap, a washcloth, and bandages.
    When she returned, she sat beside him. “Let me see how bad it is.”
    “Ah, it’s all right.”
    “That may be, but we don’t need it getting festered. Give me your leg.”
    Thomas pulled up his torn trouser and peered at the bleeding wound, then rested the leg on Hannah’s lap.
    She examined the gash. “Does it hurt?”
    “Not much.”
    “It’s not too bad. If that little rogue had been much bigger, he could have given you a serious bite.” After dipping the cloth into the water, she soaped it and gently cleaned the wound. “I’ll have to get this dirt off. It might hurt a bit.”
    “It won’t hurt me.” Thomas winced as Hannah probed. “I say he needs to be the first one butchered.”
    “And he shall be. We’ve no need of another boar.” She looked at Thomas. “I’m sorry about this. It shouldn’t have happened.”
    “It’s all right. Just wish Dad were ’ere.” Silence settled between the two. “Don’t ye think he ought to move back?”
    Heaviness pressed down on Hannah. Thomas was too